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Changes to some TD credit cards

To the point As of October 30, 2022, some changes will affect some TD credit cards: earning rates, insurance and fees.

TD announced multiple changes to some TD credit cards:

  • TD Rewards
  • Cash back
  • Aeroplan

TD Rewards

TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card

Of all TD credit cards, it is on the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card that most significant changes have been made.

Points program

TD Points become TD Rewards Points. Aside from the naming, here are the changes related to the card’s points program:

Spending Category Currently As of October 30, 2022
Basic 3 points per dollar 2 points per dollar
Travel Purchases made by phone through Expedia For TD 6 points per dollar 8 points per dollar
Travel Purchases made online through Expedia For TD 9 points per dollar 8 points per dollar
Grocery 3 points per dollar 6 points per dollar
Restaurant 3 points per dollar 6 points per dollar
Pre-authorized purchases 3 points per dollar 4 points per dollar

With these new purchase categories (Grocery, Restaurants, Pre-Authorized Purchases), TD is introducing an annual limit of $25,000 in each of these categories.

When your total Purchases exceed $25,000 in a year in each category noted above, you will receive the Base Earn Rate of 2 TD Rewards Points for every $1 in these types of Purchases.

The year starts after your first statement period in January and runs until the end of your statement period the following January.

There continues to be no annual cap on Expedia For TD Purchases.

Our Comment

The reduction from 3 to 2 points per dollar for all purchases is a significant drop if you use your TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card for all purchases. When using your points for travel through Expedia For TD, it’s a decrease from 1.5% to 1%.

As for Expedia For TD purchases, the decrease is less significant: 8 points per dollar instead of 9. It remains one of the credit cards with the highest return on travel purchases: 4% (8 points per dollar).

On the other hand, if you use your TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card for groceries, restaurants and pre-authorized purchases, you’ll earn more points than before.

Insurance

Changes related to card insurance:

Insurance Currently As of October 30, 2022
Travel Medical Insurance maximum benefit payable of up to $1,000,000 per insured person per covered trip maximum benefit payable of up to $2,000,000 per insured person per covered trip

The card’s new insurance coverage:

New insurance Details
Mobile Device Insurance Up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage or mechanical breakdown
Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance Up to $2,500 per occurrence for eligible personal items belonging to each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder
Flight/Travel Delay Insurance Up to $500 per insured person if your flight/trip is delayed for an eligible reason for over 4 hours and 75% of the cost of the trip is charged to your Card.

 

Our Comment

TD has aligned its insurance coverages with the competition. The addition of flight/travel delay insurance is most welcome, given the current situation at airports.

Benefits

New card benefits:

New benefit Details
TD Rewards Birthday Bonus Each year, you will receive a TD Rewards Birthday Bonus (“Birthday Bonus”) on your TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Account, equal to 10% of the total number of TD Rewards Points earned over the 12 months preceding the Primary Cardholder’s birthday, to a maximum Birthday Bonus of 10,000 TD Rewards Points..
TD Travel Credit

You will receive one $100 TD Travel Credit on your first Eligible Travel Credit Purchase posted to the Account in a calendar year.

An Eligible Travel Credit Purchase includes:

  • A Hotel, Motel, Lodging, or Vacation Rental Purchase of $500.00 CAD or more made with Expedia For TD; or
  • A Vacation Package Purchase of $500.00 CAD or more made with Expedia For TD, that includes a Hotel, Motel, Lodging or Vacation Rental booking packaged with a transportation booking.

 

Our Comment

The TD Rewards Birthday Bonus is worth up to 10,000 TD Rewards points ($50). To get the maximum bonus, you will need to earn 100,000 TD Rewards points through your purchases.

For example, if you make $1,000 in monthly grocery purchases (72,000 points per year), $200 in monthly restaurant purchases (14,400 points per year) and $300 in monthly pre-authorized purchases (14,400 points), you’ll reach 100,800 points.

As for the $100 TD Travel Credit, it’s more restrictive than other cards like the HSBC World Elite® Mastercard® or the National Bank’s World Elite® Mastercard®. Indeed, you’ll have to:

  • use Expedia For TD
  • book accommodation for $500 or more

This does not apply to other types of travel such as flights or car rentals.

However, since this $100 TD Travel Credit operates on a calendar-year basis, this means that if you obtain the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card in 2022, you will be able to use this $100 TD Travel Credit between October 30 and December 31, 2022. And you’ll have a new $100 TD Annual Travel Credit available on January 1, 2023.

So a TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Cardholder has even more to gain from knowing how Expedia for TD works. Not only can you earn 8 points per dollar (or 4%) for travel, but you can also use this new $100 TD Travel Credit.

Card fees

Changes related to the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card fees:

Currently As of October 30, 2022
Annual fee $120 for the primary cardholder $139 for the primary cardholder
Our Comment

Most Visa Infinite credit cards have already seen their annual fee increase from $120 to $139. Some will even go up to $150.

With the addition of the $100 TD Travel Credit, the TD Rewards Birthday Bonus and enhanced Card insurance, the $19 increase is justified.

Tip: To avoid paying this annual fee, you can become a TD All-Inclusive Banking Plan holder. You will receive an Annual fee rebate on select TD credit cards (up to $139).

Visual

The visual of the card will be changed:

Visa Infinite Td First Class Travel Card En

Current offers

With the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card, you can earn up to 100,000 TD Points and a first year annual fee rebate:

  • Welcome Bonus of 20,000 TD Points when you make your first Purchase with your Card
  • Earn 80,000 TD Rewards Points when you spend $5,000 within 180 days of Account opening.
  • A Birthday Bonus of up to 10,000 TD Rewards Points

Get an Annual Fee Rebate for the first year.

With the TD First Class Travel® Visa Infinite* Card, you get:

  • 8 TD Rewards Points for every $1 you spend when you book travel through Expedia® For TD
  • 6 TD Rewards Points for every $1 you spend on Groceries and Restaurants
  • 4 TD Rewards Points for every $1 you spend on regularly recurring bill payments set up on your Account
  • 2 TD Rewards Points For every $1 you spend on other Purchases

This TD credit card is one of the best TD travel rewards cards.

TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card

Points program

TD Points become TD Rewards Points. Aside from the naming, here are the changes related to the card’s points program:

Spending Category Currently As of October 30, 2022
Basic 2 points per dollar 1.5 points per dollar
Travel Purchases made by phone through Expedia For TD 3 points per dollar 6 points per dollar
Travel Purchases made online through Expedia For TD 5 points per dollar 6 points per dollar
Grocery 2 points per dollar 4.5 points per dollar
Restaurant 2 points per dollar 4.5 points per dollar
Pre-authorized purchases 3 points per dollar 3 points per dollar

With the introduction of these new purchase categories (Grocery, Restaurants, Pre-Authorized Purchases), TD is introducing an annual limit of $15,000 for each of these categories.

When your total Purchases exceed $15,000 in a year in each category noted above, you will receive the Base Earn Rate of 1.5 TD Rewards Points for every $1 in these types of Purchases.

The year starts after your first statement period in January and runs until the end of your statement period the following January.

There continues to be no annual cap on Expedia For TD Purchases.

Insurance

New insurance coverages for the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card:

New insurance Details
Mobile Device Insurance Up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage or mechanical breakdown
Hotel/Motel Burglary Insurance Up to $2,500 per occurrence for eligible personal items belonging to each Cardholder on the Account and eligible family members travelling with the Cardholder

 

Visual

The visual of the card will be changed:

Td Platinum Travel Visa Card En

Current offers

With this new welcome offer for the TD Platinum Travel Visa* Card, you can get up to 50,000 TD points and a first-year annual fee rebate:

  • Welcome Bonus of 15,000 TD Rewards Points when you make your first Purchase with your Card.
  • 35,000 TD Rewards Points when you spend $1,000 within 90 days of Account opening.

Get an Annual Fee Rebate for the first year.

There is no minimum income requirement for this TD credit card.

TD Rewards Visa* Card

Points program

TD Points become TD Rewards Points. Aside from the naming, here are the changes related to the card’s points program:

Spending Category Currently As of October 30, 2022
Basic 1 point per dollar 1 point per dollar
Travel Purchases made by phone through Expedia For TD 2 points per dollar 4 points per dollar
Travel Purchases made online through Expedia For TD 3 points per dollar 4 points per dollar
Grocery 2 points per dollar 3 points per dollar
Restaurant 2 points per dollar 3 points per dollar
Pre-authorized purchases 2 points per dollar 2 points per dollar

Insurance

The card’s new insurance coverage:

New insurance Details
Mobile Device Insurance Up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage or mechanical breakdown

 

Visual

The visual of the card will be changed:

Td Visa Rewards Card Fr

Current offers

As a reminder, here is the current offer for this card:

Cash back

TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card

Insurance

The TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card‘s new insurance coverages:

New insurance Details
Mobile Device Insurance Up to $1,000 for eligible mobile devices in the event of loss, theft, accidental damage or mechanical breakdown

 

Card fees

Changes related to card fees:

Currently As of October 30, 2022
Annual fee $120 for the primary cardholder $139 for the primary cardholder

Visual

The visual of the card will be changed:

Td Visa Infinite Card Cash Back Fr

Current offers

With the TD Cash Back Visa Infinite* Card, you earn 3% cash back on:

  • Grocery stores
  • Gas stations
  • Recurring bill payments

And 1% cash back on all other purchases.

It’s the best TD cash back credit card, especially for gas purchases.

With this new welcome offer, you could earn 10% cash back on gas and grocery purchases and pre-authorized payments for the first three months (up to $3,500 in purchases). So you can earn up to $350 cash back!

Plus, a first-year annual fee rebate for the Primary and Additional Cardholders.

Finally, you have good insurance coverage, such as travel medical insurance, delayed or lost baggage insurance, collision/loss damage insurance for car rentals and mobile device insurance.

Aeroplan

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card

Insurance

TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card insurance changes:

Insurance Currently As of October 30, 2022
Travel Medical Insurance maximum benefit payable of up to $1,000,000 per insured person per covered trip maximum benefit payable of up to $2,000,000 per insured person per covered trip

Current offers

With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you can earn up to 50,000 Aeroplan points:

  • A welcome bonus of 10,000 Aeroplan points when you make your first purchase with your new card
  • 20,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $6,000 within 180 days of Account opening
  • Plus, earn a one-time anniversary bonus of 20,000 Aeroplan points when you spend $10,000 within 12 months of Account opening
  • $100 NEXUS fee rebate
  • Up to eight passengers travelling on the same reservation will all enjoy their first checked bag free (up to 23kg/50lb) when your travel originates on an Air Canada flight

It’s the best TD credit card for occasional Air Canada travellers.

With the TD® Aeroplan® Visa Infinite* Card, you earn 1.5 points per dollar of eligible purchases for:

Bottom Line

Like other institutions before it (BMO or National Bank, to name a few), TD has made various changes to its cards.

In terms of TD Rewards points earning, this is partly due to lower interchange fee revenue (the fee charged to merchants for allowing their customers to use a credit card for purchases).

To compensate for this in the eyes of customers, credit card issuers often choose to introduce purchase categories offering more points than before. As always, with changes like this, the winners will be those who take advantage of these different purchase categories by using the right credit card in the right place.

Use our credit card comparison tool to find the card that fits your needs and spending habits!

Come to discuss that topic in our Facebook Group!
Jean-Maximilien
Jean-Maximilien is an expert in Canada and France about Loyalty programs, Credit cards and Travel. He is the Founding President of Milesopedia.

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